Hinckley Food Bank are to hold a collection at Tesco to fill their stocks for the Christmas period.

The collection, in conjunction with the Trussell Trust and the Good Morning Britain campaign, encourages residents to buy something extra from a food bank shopping list as they do their weekly shop.

The Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year for the food bank, who are expecting to provide help to more than 1,000 people over December and January this season.

The collection starts today and people will be able to donate at the Hawley Road store from today until Sunday.

Volunteers will be on hand between 10am and 6pm on Thursday and Friday and 9am and 6pm on Saturday to give advice about what to buy and information about the donations will help others.

Whatever donations the collections gets, Tesco will top up by 30%.

The main items that are needed include tinned items, fruit juice, toiletries such as toilet roll, sanitary items and deodorant, and Christmas produce such as mince pies, crackers and Christmas pudding.

Andy Cleaver, manager at Hinckley Food Bank, said: “It’s not always a joyful time of year for everyone but we want to make it as special as we can.

“We sit with people and spend time with them and find out how we can help them in the long term. We don’t give advice but we will ask them what is going on and try to find out what has caused them to come to us for food.

“As a charity we are not a threatening organisation and if they are struggling they can tell us without any repercussions,

“We can then find them further support such as counselling.”

A Food Bank

Andy said that donating to the appeal is a great way to help people in need during the winter months.

He added: “When people come to us they feel they have no dignity.

“The majority of people who come to us are ashamed and embarrassed. A lot of the time people will come in crying because they are desperate for help but we find afterwards there are tears of relief because they see that people care about them.

“They see themselves as human beings not just a number in a system. They are so grateful, they leave with hope

“It’s about more than food - people walk away feeling human again and have their faith in humanity restored.”